


A Moment of Selfishness

by UnderwaterGem



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 04:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17379761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderwaterGem/pseuds/UnderwaterGem
Summary: Raizel decides to accept M-21’s request to heal M-24, in ways he would never expect or know.





	A Moment of Selfishness

**Author's Note:**

> **Word Count:** 1,631  
>  **Pairing:** Rai21 (Raizel x M-21), if you squint and tilt your head, turn around, and bend over back to view upside down.

_‘His aura and looks are the same as before...it feels the same, but different at the same time.’_

Raizel hadn’t understood what he was feeling at first. The M-24 that was down in the labs felt like the same one he had interacted with what felt like a lifetime ago. His aura was the same, fluctuating as his body broke down under the stress of an incomplete experiment, only being kept alive by the pills he took (as M-21 had explained to them), that were now unavailable to him. There wasn’t anything different about his appearance either.

It was as if the M-24 he had seen and felt dying was there before them again, but not quite. And he finally understood why M-24 felt so wrong.

He could feel another presence inside of M-24.

He felt it as M-21 was begging him to awaken ‘M-24’ in a hopeful attempt that it would heal M-24’s broken body. It was as if someone had used mind control on ‘M-24’, but the source was coming from the inside.

Someone was wearing M-24’s appearance, but somehow they were able to perfectly copy his DNA and retain most of his memories.

Raizel stared straight ahead as he let the voices of Frankenstein and M-21 wash over him. He could easily skim the surface of the fake M-24’s mind and the thoughts he was hearing were not M-24’s own. He could feel that the piece of M-24 inside the person’s mind had been suppressed, causing their true aura to appear...but it was faint. Something he was sure Frankenstein would not be able to feel unless he was paying close attention.

Raizel focused back in time to see M-21’s heartbroken expression as the realization that awakening M-24 would cost Raizel more of his life force. Something within him clenched at the sight. He tried not to, but he could read a few of M-21’s thoughts, and what he was hearing sadden him further. Raizel stood and turned to M-21,

“I will help M-24. You only have to ask of me, and I will do it.” Raizel smiled slightly, much to M-21’s astonished elation before something dark overcame M-21’s expression.

“No...it’s fine. I can’t ask you to use more of your life force, especially on something that might not work.” M-21 said, his silver hair slipping to hide his eyes as he turned his head away from them.

“We would not know unless we try.” Raizel countered.

Why wasn’t M-21 accepting his offer? A chance to save his dearest friend was being offered to him, so why was M-21 turning away?

“I’m sorry to have caused trouble. Frankenstein, please take care of M-24.”

And with those parting words, M-21 walked away dejectedly.

Why?

Raizel stared after him in confusion. He could feel the hurt radiating off from M-21 and the downturn of his shoulders. The loneliness that was being soothed at the thought of M-24 with him again was slowly building back up, the despair at the fact that M-24 was not getting better at all and that he might die again if Frankenstein wasn’t able to remake the pills he had previously taken, something that would have to be made from scratch as neither had a sample on them.

Why was he turning the opportunity to help his friend down? Raizel had thought he had proven he would give his own life to protect them all and give them the happy lives they deserved to live.

It was as Frankenstein had to help him back into his seat that he realized with a jolt that M-21 was trying to protect _him_. The fight with the Union Elder had only been a week or two ago and he was still feeling weak, and he was certain that it showed. He stared into the full teacup Frankenstein handed to him and frowned as Frankenstein bustled around him.

He narrowed his eyes when he felt M-21 entering the lab while the Union agent was still in control. The moments where ‘M-24’ and the agent were in control switched every second as they talked to M-21.

His hands carefully clenched around the delicate teacup as the agent played with M-21. The Union agent was toying with the silver-haired ex-agent. They knew how much M-21 cared for M-24 and preyed on the silver-haired man’s feelings, knowing he would beg for M-24 to be brought into this house. And now he could feel that they were trying to pull information out of M-21 by using the face and voice of his dead comrade.

The Union had proven many times that they were capable of doing the most deplorable acts in order to further their goals, he was not surprised that they would pull this tactic.

_‘Why...am I acting like this to M-21? What’s wrong with me?’_

Raizel’s eyes widened at the statement. It had come from the fake M-24’s mind, coming from the piece of M-24 inside the Union agent. It was the clearest he had heard since M-24 was brought to them, the closest to how dead M-24 felt.

It was at that statement that his decision was made.

M-21 had been through far too much to experience betrayal from a Union agent wearing his closest friend’s face. The image of the broken expression on M-21’s face when he saw ‘M-24’ lying there in the KSA hospital bed filled his mind and no amount of squeezing his eyes closed rid him of that sight. Nor of the elation M-21 had felt, the hope, the wariness, the disbelief, the astonishment at seeing his once dead comrade right before him, alive and well.

And M-24 was alive, even if the wellness was not there. And that could certainly be fixed given enough time and under Frankenstein’s hands. The first, he could help.

Throughout all the years he’s been alive, Raizel had rarely encountered a moment of selfishness like this one.

He didn’t want M-21 to be hurt again. He wanted all of the people in this house to be well and happy, even if that means doing the despicable.

With his decision made, Raizel closed his eyes and gathered his powers.

“Master?! What are you doing?!” Frankenstein was at his side in an instant, but Raizel did not respond. He needed to focus carefully or he would end up hurting the side of the agent that was purely M-24.

He focused and shot his powers to encase itself around the fake M-24’s mind. He felt more than heard the screams coming from the lab as he used his powers to encage the Union agent’s subconscious and shrunk it, squeezing until it was nothing more than a sliver of aura, before locking it deep within the agent’s mind.

With that done, he used his powers to coax M-24’s subconscious into the forefront, settling it within the mindscape and using his powers to anchor it down so that it would stay there...forever.

By the time he was done, he was sweating profusely and panting breathlessly, and he noticed the presence of Regis and Seira at his side along with Frankenstein.

“Go...into the labs...and help M-24...” He panted out to Frankenstein, who wavered for but a moment before nodding and dashing away.

Regis handed him a white handkerchief that he used to mop up the blood dripping from his nose and mouth. It had taken quite a bit of his power to ensure he didn’t damage the M-24 inside of the agent and he weakly checked in on how the new M-24 was doing.

He was unconscious but okay. Raizel could feel M-21 fluttering around him as Frankenstein did his check-up scans (with Tao and Takeo further back to give them room), the worry radiating off the both of them were larger than normal, each directed at two different people. He could only imagine the sight M-24 made, but he was glad that nothing seemed wrong with the process.

Raizel closed his eyes and shivered.

What he had done was the most disgusting thing he could have done. To use his powers to mess with someone’s mind was taught to all Nobles as wrong and warned with severe punishment. He was the Noblesse, the one who punished those who would dare to harm the humans or Nobles alike. What right did he have to interfere in such a way that he had?

But as he felt for M-21 once again, he found that he could not bring himself to regret what he had done.

He would do his best and his all to make sure that the people in his house were living the happy lives that they deserved, and the one thing that M-21 has always wanted the most (and kept buried) were his comrades back. Raizel did not have the power to bring the others back from the dead, but the next best thing was to create a new M-24.

This M-24 would never be the original, most of the memories he once shared with M-21 were gone and never able to come back. But M-21 already knew that. They would now be able to build their lives together and create new memories, with M-21 sharing his freedom with M-24.

M-21 would never know what had transpired and who the new M-24 used to be, that he would make sure of. He would need to pass this along to Frankenstein to ensure this. After the life M-21 had lived, he deserved to be truly happy.

It was a decision he would make, again and again, to make the people he cared for happy. Raizel closed his eyes and allowed the two young Nobles to care for him while Frankenstein tended to the new M-24.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Note:** What are endings? Something hard to write as more and more stuff keeps being added! xD I’ve had this thought when re-reading one of my favorite Noblesse scenes, the one where fake M-24 had been caught by M-21 and he thought the quote after the agent went back into sleeping. I couldn’t help writing it out!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Until next time, cya!  
> ~ UWGem


End file.
